must not see anybody and I
must not speak to anybody
but you. When the kitchen
doorbell rings, George must
be blindfolded and sent to the
door. You must tell George
he must walk on tiptoe and
not speak--otherwise he will
die someday. Then you must
go up to the nursery and
stand on a chair or the nurse's
bed and put your ear to the
speaking tube that leads
down to the kitchen and
when I whistle through it you
must speak in the tube and
say, "Welcome, Santa
Claus!" Then I will ask
whether it was a trunk you
ordered or not. If you say it
was, I shall ask you what
color you want the trunk to
be . . . and then you must tell
me every single thing in
detail which you want the
trunk to contain. Then when I
say "Good-by and a merry
Christmas to my little Susy
Clemens," you must say
"Good-by, good old Santa
Claus, I thank you very
much." Then you must go
down into the library and
make George close all the
doors that open into the main
hall, and everybody must
keep still for a little while. I
will go to the moon and get
those things and in a few
minutes I will come down the
chimney that belongs to the
fireplace that is in the hall--if
it is a trunk you want-because I couldn't get such a
thing as a trunk down the
nursery chimney, you know .
. . .If I should leave any snow
in the hall, you must tell
George to sweep it into the
fireplace, for I haven't time to
do such things. George must
not use a broom, but a rag-else he will die someday . . . .
If my boot should leave a
stain on the marble, George
must not holystone it away.
Leave it there always in
memory of my visit; and
whenever you look at it or
show it to anybody you must
let it remind you to be a good
little girl. Whenever you are
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